


Nutritional Value

by Myrime



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Family, Family Dinners, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Iron Family, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony lives, takeout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 17:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20313175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrime/pseuds/Myrime
Summary: Once a week, the whole extended Stark family meets up for dinner. That means unbridled chaos and too much food. Tony did not think he'd ever be this happy.





	Nutritional Value

**Author's Note:**

> Another entry for the [Iron Man Bingo 2019 Round 2](https://iron-man-bingo.tumblr.com/), square: IronFam Takeout.
> 
> Enjoy!

Tony is in the middle of an experiment when all the screens around him go dark except for one, which is now showing the time in giant numbers instead of the specs for the prosthetic leg he had been working on.

“Boss,” FRIDAY speaks up before Tony can be irritated at the interruption. “Mr. Hogan asked me what he should bring for tonight’s dinner.”

For a moment, Tony is confused. Then the date appears helpfully on the screen in front of him, together with a picture of the calendar hanging in their kitchen, where Morgan has written in colourful if crooked letters _Family Dinner_.

“There’s no way it’s already time for that again,” Tony protests. They have barely cleaned up last week’s mess, so it is surely a mistake that the hungry hordes are about to hijack their home again.

“Masters Harley and Peter are en route, while Mrs. Parker called to say she’ll likely get out of the hospital on time,” FRIDAY supplies in a bright tone. She loves it when the house is full. All of them do, really, especially since Peter moved away for college.

Tony is already packing up his tools – something he has only started doing since Morgan became big enough to reach the worktables – and trusts FRIDAY to save his progress.

“How much time do I have?” he asks, “I need to shower.”

“I dare say,” FRIDAY responses without missing a beat, her voice full of sass. These days, she is almost as emotive as JARVIS had been. The lack of constant danger in their everyday life has helped her to relax into her role.

“Hush, Fri,” Tony admonishes with a smile. “There’s a reason your sensors don’t pick up smells. I’m not that cruel.”

Especially during the times Harley and Peter are down here with him that would be unnecessarily mean. They might not care that they are covered in grease and sweat after a daylong working binge, but Pepper advised them to make better use of the workshop’s ventilation system.

“You have approximately one hour left,” FRIDAY informs him.

Since nobody is ever on time but either too early or too late, that does not help Tony overly much, but he can at least make a good impression with Pepper by being up to help her.

“Tell Pepper I’ll join her in twenty minutes,” Tony says as he turns towards the stairs.

After a minute, FRIDAY replies, “She says she’s going to watch the time.” Disguised threats, Tony knows, are a sure sign that Pepper has not yet forgiven him for the BBQ incident during the last family dinner. “You have not yet answered Mr. Hogan’s question about what you want to eat.”

Tony takes the time to stop on the stairs to roll his eyes at FRIDAY. “Cheeseburgers,” he says, drawing out the word. “I’m worried about your memory. That’s like the only thing I ever order.”

Except for –

“Two months ago, you ordered curry,” FRIDAY argues immediately.

“And I’ll never do so again,” Tony says with a shudder.

There is still photographic evidence of him and Peter hanging over the sink to shovel precious cold water down their throats in the hopes of alleviating the burning.

Tony has almost reached the bathroom upstairs, when FRIDAY speaks up again. “Miss Morgan agrees with your choice of cheeseburgers.”

“Of course she does,” Tony says importantly, not holding back his smile. “She inherited my superior taste.

* * *

When Pepper insisted on having an actual dining room in the house, Tony had called her crazy. They did not need a room and table to comfortably seat twelve people. Their days of dinner parties and business meetings at home are thankfully over.

Now, however, the tastefully done room is sometimes not enough for all of them when the whole extended family comes over. Especially since everybody insists on bringing their own food.

These nights often still feel like a miracle to Tony. Not once in his life has he ever believed in getting his happily ever after, not even when he had something truly precious to fight for. Family has always been something abstract, something for other people. Tony has never felt he deserved it. He is still not quite sure whether he has done enough to deserve this now, but he knows he would not change it for anything. He has gotten more than he could have ever dreamed of.

Happy is the first to arrive, bringing an armful of paper bags smelling of cheese and fries. Always drawn to the good stuff, Morgan latches herself to his legs and makes sure to secure a chair next to his at the table. Whenever Tony sees them together, he is eternally grateful that his daughter has never had to worry about having the affection of the people in her life.

Tony is just done with putting glasses on the table when the door opens and Harley and Peter come in, laden with at least five pizza cartons and the flushed faces that easily betray they have enthusiastically discussed some project or other on the flight over.

“May is bringing larb,” Peter announces as he drops the cartons on the table and lets himself fall into a chair.

Harley follows suit, breathing heavily as if they hiked here from Boston instead of simply jumping into the private jet Tony has made available for them.

Happy reacts to that piece of information by making more room around May’s place on his other side. She always brings some kind of salad too, and sometimes dessert, as if they do not have enough food already. Over the years, it has even become edible.

“Just for herself, I hope,” Tony protests just out of habit.

What started as a nice way to accommodate all their different tastes by everyone bringing something small for themselves on top of whatever Pepper and Tony put on the table, has soon escalated. Now, it feels like everybody is bringing enough for everybody else. Plus some extra in case they are very hungry that night.

“I very much hope not,” Peter counters, offended. “I’ve been craving good larb for ages. It’s just impossible to get in Boston.”

Next to him, Harley rolls his eyes but nods dutifully. It is truly a miracle that MIT is still standing with the both of them going there.

“As, apparently, is pizza,” Tony points out dryly. He counts the cartons again and finds he has missed two in his initial assessment.

“You should back down now,” Harley threatens good-naturedly, “Peter and I are starving and we’re going to defend this heavenly New York pizza with all we’ve got.”

Looking closely, Tony finds a tomato sauce stain on Peter’s shirt. He would bet all the money he has that they have already eaten at least one of the pizzas on their way here.

“Are we?” Peter asks, distracted by trying to look into the paper bags around Happy, having to fight Morgan for them.

“Yes,” Harley answers firmly, then glares around the table, making a motion to hug all the pizza cartons closer to himself.

It makes Tony wonder whether he and Rhodey have ever been this ridiculous about food or anything else. He decides not to ask, though. Starting the evening with embarrassing stories can never end well.

As everybody arrives, they end up with a table full of cartons and paper wrappings. In the beginning, Pepper and May had attempted to keep things civilised and arranged all the food on actual plates, working out a system to get everyone equal access to the different foods.

These days, they simply dump everything on the table. Sometimes, they do not even bother with individual plates anymore. It is as chaotic as it is charming, and makes everything more real.

When everybody has arrived, the table is straining to keep upright under the weight of all the food. Peter and Harley have not only brought the pizza but also, strangely, mac and cheese. Pepper organised a giant plate of Italian antipasti as well as some pasta dishes. May brings enough larb to feed an army, additional to naan and an over-sized bowl of salad. Tony and Morgan hamster the burgers and fries. Happy brought more Thai and pastries. Even Rhodey and Carol are there tonight. They are usually responsible for adding an exotic touch to their meals, and unpack loads of strange-looking sweets from whatever place in the universe they have been travelling to last.

Sometimes, some of the Avengers join them, and when the Guardians are close by, dinner usually dissolves into outright revelry very quickly. Tonight, though, it is just family.

Dinner itself is accompanied by a dozen conversations happening at once as everyone is catching up with each other and debates get started and old arguments get picked up again. They all have more or less seriously fixed seats but those belong to more civilised meals in smaller groups. During nights like this, they change seats so often that everyone ends up sitting next to everybody else at some point.

Tony enjoys the fact that he does not have to put on his game face here. These nights do not need an anchor. He is not here as the host but simply as a part of the colourful whole. Pepper had more problems with just letting things happen than he had, but he knows she now likes it as much as he does. The extended Stark family does not need to be organised or controlled. They fit in together just like they are.

“Since Harley is almost done with MIT –” Peter is telling Tony at some point after they actually managed to eat all but one of the pizzas.

“I still have half a year to get through,” Harley throws in dryly from the side, but then turns back to his conversation with May.

Peter rolls his eyes but otherwise ignores Harley’s argument. “We thought of maybe opening a small SI office there. It’d make sense to pick up bright minds before they scatter all over the country.” Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Also, we could do some real work.”

Peter, Tony knows, does not want to be left behind alnoe at MIT. He has made the best of the five years he lost after the Snap, but there is no changing the fact that Harley will graduate soon and then Peter will be alone at MIT. Or not, considering the idea Peter is just now trying to feed to Tony as an actual plan.

Ever since meeting in the aftermath of the second battle against Thanos, the two boys have been inseparable, as close as brothers. Something more serious than a graduation would have to happen for those two to willingly go their separate ways. 

Irrationally, that makes Tony proud. They are not his sons, but it feels that way, more with each time he sees them. Morgan has been calling them her brothers for an eternity already too.

“It’s a good plan,” Tony says, even though he knows there will be a whole lot more work involved than just buying a building, writing their name out front, and recruiting some gifted student right out of college, to create an actually profitable outpost for the company. That is not the real purpose of this, of course. “You need to learn about the ins and outs of SI and how to lead a company anyway.”

Peter blushes a bit, just like he always does when Tony mentions anything even remotely reminding him of the fact that all three of Tony’s kids will inherit Stark Industries together. Tony has talked it through with Pepper to find the best solution for everyone, not wanting to either steal the company from Morgan nor force it on her.

The easiest solution would naturally be for Pepper and Tony to live long enough for Morgan to know and decide for herself what she wants – and they do not wish to die any time soon or fall into any more near-death situations and wars ever again – but Tony could never quite change his habit of always having contingency plans.

“Harley’s been taking business classes,” Peter says and seems to gear himself up for further arguments.

Reaching out, Tony puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I said yes,” he says firmly, not fighting the smile spreading on his lips.

Pepper might just kill him later for making more work for them, but it is worth it when Peter beams back at him and quickly turns around to drag Harley off, telling him the good news.

“He’s going crazy, worrying about this,” May tells him once the boys are out of earshot.

That only increases Tony’s resolve to talk to Harley about this. The two of them might be attached at the hips, but Tony is not going to let one make the decision for the other.

It is generally assumed that Harley will start working for Stark Industries once he has graduated, but Tony is not going to hold him to that if he wants to do something else with his life. For a while or forever. Howard used to push Tony in directions he never wanted to go, and he is not going to repeat the same mistake with his own children.

“I’ll take care of it,” Tony promises May.

Even after years of close friendship and calling each other family, he is surprised when May simply nods gratefully and considers the matter dealt with, trusting him with her child.

Deep down, Tony wishes they would all just move back home, or close enough at least that they do not need to take one of the quinjets to come for dinner. Until they consider that, he is just going to make sure they get what they want. Building one’s own place in life might be important, but so is getting help from one’s family.

At some point, Harley, Peter and Morgan vanish down to the workshop to catch up with what Tony has been working on as well as enjoying each other company out of the adults’ line of sight. Up in the dining room, it does not get any quieter or less chaotic. Tony loves that. Everyone is so alive.

“Rhodey-bear,” Tony exclaims as he lets himself fall into a seat next to his best friend. For a moment, they just watch their loved ones together. Pepper and Carol are sticking their heads together at the opposite side of the table, while Happy laughs loudly at a story May is telling.

Life is good. But, Tony knows, it can always be better.

“What about you two?” Tony asks. “How’s the circle of life going?”

For years now, he has been bugging Rhodey about making things with Carol official, of settling down somewhere. As much as they are travelling the universe, they must have found a place they can see themselves growing old in – preferably close by, perhaps on the other side of the lake.

“If I’d told anyone ten years ago that Tony Stark would become the family-oriented one between us,” Rhodey jokes, obviously deflecting, “they’d have locked me up and thrown away the key.”

He is not wrong, of course, but sometimes it is not easy to know what is really important until it is right in front of him.

“I’m just saying,” Tony continues, not letting go this easily, “if you keep going at this pace, Morgan will be out of the house too before the Rhodes-Danvers kids will cause chaos.”

For someone who has refused for so long to even acknowledge the possibility of children, Tony can now not get enough of them. He would love to become an uncle to Rhodey’s kid.

“I firmly believe that our child will not become a maniac like all of yours,” Rhodey protests firmly and notices his mistake far too late.

“Hah,” Tony exclaims, grinning wildly, “so you _are_ talking about starting a family.”

Scowling, Rhodey shrugs. It is not serious, though, Tony can see that easily. “That was not my point.”

“No, but I’m very proud of how my children turned out,” Tony says, as usual savouring the taste of saying _his_ children, “so you won’t be able to tease me with it.”

As one, they look in the direction of the stairs to the basement, as if they can actually see through the walls and floor.

“I’d say they are a step up from the murder bots.”

Tony laughs. He is not actually sure that, if left to their own devices, his kids are any less destructive than DUM-E with his fire-extinguisher.

“Did I tell you that Morgan’s working on her first bot?”

His little girl never ceases to make Tony proud. He would be even if she had no inclination to ever voluntarily set a food into a workshop, but it certainly multiplies his joy that she build thinks with as much eagerness as her brothers and father.

“With you as a role model, I’ll be surprised if the house is still standing in time for the next family dinner,” Rhodey teases but looks excited too. Beneath all that military composure, Rhodey is still the boy who went to MIT with Tony.

Tony leans back in his seat, the world’s biggest smile on his face.

“We will enjoy proving you wrong.”

* * *

Hours later, after the kids have come back up for a second dinner and they are all stuffed full enough to feel like they are going to burst, Tony looks at the veritable battlefield that is their dinner table.

“We are going to eat left-overs for days,” he complains. “Why does that always happen?”

“It’s not _always_,” Pepper argues next to him, leaning against his shoulder. “Just after the big family dinners. And when it’s just the boys coming. Or when Morgan thinks with her eyes instead of her stomach. Or when Happy decides that you’ve skipped too many meals again.”

They look at each other and start laughing, the happy sound of people being exactly where they want to be.

“It really is every time,” Happy agrees, stopping his half-hearted attempt to start cleaning without actually getting up.

“Look at the good side,” Peter says, rubbing his belly, even while he eyes the table in contemplation. He really does not know when to stop. “You’ll save so much time if you don’t have to cook for the next days.”

“Strangely enough,” Tony drawls, “pizza with larb isn’t one of my favourites.”

“That’s because you’re old and boring,” Harley says as he catches Peter’s hand on its way to a half-empty carton of fries. “You’re missing your sense of adventure.”

“Or I just have some common sense left that the younger generation seems to lack.”

Tony had enough adventures for several lifetimes. He has fought his battles, has lost some of them but won the ones that matter. He is allowed to be boring now. Then again, life in this family is never boring and he would not have it any other way.

They laugh together as they clean up, promising each other to not bring as much food next week. That is a lie and they all know it. If there is too much food, that only means that they are all there. And that is the only thing that matters.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
